Apparatus for propelling vessels.



PATENTED MAY 19,- 1908.

A". AHLBREGHT. APPARATUS POR PRQPELLING VESSEL-s. APPLICATION FALBD DEO.29,1906. RENEWED APB. 13, .1908.

THE NcRRls PETERS coA, wAsmNaroN, b. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING VESSELS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 19, 1908.

Application filed December 29, 1906, Serial No. 349,977. Renewed April13, 1908. Serial No. 426,752.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUST AHLBRECHT, a subject of the Emperor ofGermany, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in anApparatus for Propelling Vessels; and I do declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part ofthis specification.

This invention relates to 'an improved apparatus for propelling vessels,such as ships, boats, tc., and it consists in a propeller blade, or aseries of propeller blades, each of which is capable of being brought toa horizontal or vertical position and to be moved in such verticalposition a limited distance and upon the return brought to anapproximately horizontal position, and the invention further consists ina means for relieving the back pressure on said propeller blades, and itfurther consists in the certain details of construction and combinationof parts, as willbe fully described hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings-Figure 1 is a side sectional elevation ofmy improved apparatus for propelling vessels, the same being constructedand arranged in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is an end sectionalelevation of the same, said section being taken on the line X, X ofFig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view of a portion of the frame, showing thelocation of the sliding rods which operate the propeller to adjust itsposition. Fig. 4 is a detailed side elevation, partly in section, of thelever for operating the sliding head. Fig. 5 is a face view of the same.

To put my invention into practice, and thereby provide an apparatus forpropelling vessels, such as ships, boats, &c., I form from cast metal, aframe 1, of a suitable size and form of construction, said frame to beeither arranged in the bottom ofthe vessel or at one side thereof.Arranged within the frame 1, near one end, are parallel slides 2, inwhich a moving slidable head 3 is operated, said head capable of alimited horizontal movement and connected by a bar 4, to a pivoted lever5, said lever deriving its motion from a crank 7, forming a part of acounter-shaft 8, the said shaft being fitted with sprockets 9, connectedby a chain belt 10 to another sprocket 11, mounted on a drive-shaft 12,which may be propelled by any desired motor. Attached to the bottom ofthe slidable head 3, are two quadrants 13, arranged parallel, the onewith the other, and each being formed on their inner periphery with arack, adapted to engage with and operate toothed wheels 15, for thepurpose of changing the position of the propeller blade 14, as will befully described hereinafter.

Attached to the drive shaft 12, and rotated thereby, is a disk 35,having a deep eccentric groove 36 formed in one of its faces. Operatingin this eccentric groove 36 are two rollers 37, arranged in slots 38formed in the lower end of a pivoted lever 34, the said lever beingconnected by a link 33, to a horizontally moving bar 30, which isarranged in slides 31 located on the top of the frame 1. This slidingbar 30 is connected to bellcranks 28, by links 29, and the free or otherends of said cranks connected by links 27 to a horizontally-disposed bar26, which bar is mounted between guides 32, which will permit the saidbar to be lifted vertically a short distance.

disposed bar 26, or bars, are downwardly extending bars 25, which extendthrough the sliding head 3, and are connected by links 24 to bell-cranks23. From the other ends of these last mentioned bell-cranks 23,connecting links are led to and connected by links 22 to projections 21,arranged on one side of the propeller blade 14. This propeller blade 14comprises a flat rectangular body, which is hinged to the up er portionof the quadrants 13, and is capab e of occupying an approximatelyhorizontal or.perpendicular position. Mounted in bearings on the forwardside of the propeller 14 are two shafts 15, and 15, the one shaftparallel to the other, and the upper shaft 15 carrying the abovedescribed toothed wheels 16 which operate in the quadrant racks. Each ofthese shafts 15, 15 is fitted withsmall pinions 19, which are in meshwith a rack bar 17, mounted in slides 18, in such manner that therotatable movement of the one shaft 15 will be transmitted to the other15. At either side of the rack bar 17 are openings through the propeller14, said openings being fitted wit covers 20 hinge-d to the shafts 15,15', said covers being Loosely connected to this horizontally- I adaptedto close said openings when the propeller is moved rearward in thedirection indicated by the arrows on Fig. 1.

In operation, the drive-shaft 12 is rotated by any suitable motor, whichmotion is transmitted bythe eccentric grooved wheel and leverconnections to the cranks 28, which will elevate the horizontal-disposedbars 26, thereby 0 erating the bell-cranks 23 to move the prope er blade14 about its hinged connection to a vertical position. During thismovement of the propeller blade 14 the rear wheels 16 are rotated by thequadrant rack 13 to revolve the covers 20 and close the openings throughsaid propeller blade. When t e propeller b ade has been brought to thisvertical position, the pivoted lever 5 operates to move the sliding head3, carrying the propeller rearward to the limit of said slidablemovement, thereby ropelling the vessel forward. Upon the bac rwardstroke of the propeller blade 14, the pinions 16 operate to open thecovers 20, and offer little resistance to the water.

This apparatus, above described, may be arranged either on the bottom ofvessels or boats, in the latter case, two propellers would be used, theone on either side of the boat.

Various slight modiiications and changes ma be made in the details ofconstruction wit out departing from the spirit of the invention.Therefore l do not wish to confine myself to the eXact construction,shown and described, but wish to claim all such modified forms, as wouldcome properly, within the general scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

An apparatus for propelling vessels or boats, comprising a sliding head,means for operating the same, vertically-moving bars carried by saidhead, means consisting of an eccentric-grooved wheel and connectinglevers for operating said vertically-moving bars, a propeller bladehinged in position on the boat or vessel and operated to occupy anapproximately horizontal position at the starting point, a verticalposition, and to be carried horizontally by said moving head andvertically-moving bars operating' therein, openings iitted with hingedcovers, in said propeller and means operated by the movement of saidpropeller to open and close said hinged covers, as and for the purposedescribed.

ln testimony whereof, I affix my signature, in presence of twowitnesses.

AUGUST AHLBRECHT.

Witnesses WM. G. WALTER, I. A. GRAY.

